Tag Archives: petrified wood

A New Ranch Has Opened for Rockhunting!

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The Pigmon Ranch, located between Balmorhea and Toyah, is Open NOW!

Teri Smith Rockhunts is pleased to announce the opening of the Pigmon Ranch for rockhunting.  This ranch is located between Balmorhea and Toyah, on rolling hills and flats, where you can find agate, jasper, petrified wood, flint, and chert.  There is quite a bit of blue agate on the ranch, and some of it has black, grey, or white plumes in it.  There’s also lots of other types of agate, such as fortification agates, tube agates, water-level agates, seam agates, banded agates, and saginitic agates.  And there is petrified wood, flint, and chert in great colors and patterns.

I hope to get photos and a description up on my website in the next day or so. The agates are so beautiful and varied that it will take lots of photos to give you an idea of what you can find there.

The Pigmon Ranch is about 70 miles from Alpine. It will be easy to access, as a paved county road goes right through the ranch!

Cost for the hunt is $50 per adult per day.  Children are free.  Rollin’ Rock Club membership is required ($10 for a single membership, or $16 for a dual membership.)  Contact Teri Smith at agatehunter@sbcglobal.net, or text or call (432) 386-3431.

Schedule created on 10/7/2024. If the schedule changes, a new post will be created with the new schedule.

Fall 2019 Rockhunts: Maybe We’ll Have a New Ranch to Hunt On!

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Those of you who are friends of mine on Facebook have probably heard the sad news, but for those that haven’t, my husband and best friend passed away on August 1, 2019, in Hollister, CA, where we were spending the summer. While Smith had been ill for many years, his death was unexpected.  Emotionally, I have been supported by our four children and four grandchildren, who came from Texas, Ohio, Virginia and England to be here with me.  I’m learning to understand what the word “widow” means in practical terms, and what the future is likely to look like for me.  I’m just hoping that I don’t have to get a real “job”, since that would mean that I couldn’t lead rockhunts on the days when I work.

I intend to come back to Texas in the middle of October and lead rockhunts through the end of November.  However, the Fall schedule is still up in the air because there’s the possibility of a new ranch being available in South Brewster County, near the Stillwell Ranch.  I won’t be able to tell you how good it is until I get there to look around, and that won’t be until October.

So… I can either wait til then to publish the actual schedule, or I can publish it right now with the caveat that the locations may change if this ranch proves to be as spectacular as I believe it will.  What I can tell you for sure is that I will be available to lead fieldtrips on the following dates:

Friday, 10/25 through Sunday, 10/27

Friday, 11/1 through Sunday, 11/3

Friday, 11/15 through Sunday, 11/17

Friday, 11/29 through Sunday, 12/1

If the new ranch proves to be good, I’ll probably add either Thursdays of Mondays to the schedule and go to each of the ranches on one day of the four-day weekend. Let me know by return email whether you’d like me to post a schedule that may change or wait til October to post the names of the ranches I’ll be hunting at each day.

The prices for each ranch is the same as in previous years:

Ritchie Ranch:  $10 admission fee and $1 per lb of cutting agate or good specimens.

South Larremore Ranch:  $50 per person per day.

East Needle Peak:  $40 per person per day.

And Rollin’ Rock Club membership is required.  I’ll hold the memberships and not submit them until December, so they will apply for 2020 as well.  Cost is $10 for a single membership and $16 for a dual membership for the year.

Hope to see you this Fall!  If not, I’ll be back in March and April for what may be my last set of rockhunts.

Regards,

Teri